Congressional leaders? bill would restrict cross-border truck program

Congressional leadersÆ bill would restrict cross-border truck program Two congressional leaders Thursday added their support to a bill placing restriction on a controversial U.S. Department of Transportation pilot program to allow Mexico-domiciled trucks to operate on virtually all U.S. highways.
   House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., have signed on to cosponsor the Safe American Roads Act of 2007, introduced Thursday by Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan.
   The SARA legislation seeks to prohibit the DOT from granting authority to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border, except under a pilot program that meets all 22 requirements of the fiscal year 2002 DOT Appropriations Act and all requirements set forth under TEA 21 relating to pilot programs.
   It also seeks to prohibit the DOT from initiating a pilot program until U.S. motor carrier companies are allowed to begin comparable operations in Mexico. In addition, the DOT would have to provide notice and opportunity for public comment on the details of the program, including the measures in place to protect the health and safety of the public, enforcement measures, penalties for non-compliance, and safety metrics used to evaluate the program.
   The bill also includes monitoring requirements by the Inspector General's office, and calls for the issuance of a formal DOT report to Congress upon the program's completion.
   Oberstar and DeFazio have been vehement in their criticism of the truck program since a DOT start-up announcement for the program in late-February. Both have called for an investigation into the program by the DOT Inspector General.
   In offering his support for the Boyda bill, Oberstar said Thursday that he is still concerned that the Mexican trucking industry, and that country’s regulatory regime for motor carriers, has not reached the point at which Mexico-domiciled trucks crossing the international border can operate safely in the United States.
   “Several unanswered questions remain about whether the necessary systems are in place today to hold Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to the same strict federal standards that govern U.S. commercial truck operations, including hours of service, drug testing and criminal background checks for drivers hauling hazardous materials,” Oberstar said.
   DeFazio mirrored Oberstar's concerns, adding that Mexico-domiciled trucks should not be allowed full access until U.S. trucks can be guaranteed reciprocal access to Mexico.
   'We must ensure that the DOT does not rush to open the border without proper protections in place,' he added. 'The safety of the American public is at stake.”
   Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment offered by Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Diane Feinstein of California to put the brakes on the DOT program.
   Included in the supplemental Iraq war-spending bill, the amendment requires the DOT to go through a public comment period before starting the one-year pilot program, and fully explain how it intends to implement safety inspections, driver hours-of-service, drug testing and other steps to ensure compliance with U.S. highway safety standards.
   Earlier this month, Public Citizen, the non-profit watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, filed suit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on behalf of a highway safety organization to compel the FMCSA to release information about the DOT program, claiming that details about safety and labor issues had not been forthcoming from the Bush Administration.